"It is my hope that this visit will help these outstanding companies expand their work internationally and add jobs here in Connecticut," said U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, who is joining the delegation, in a statement.

The businesses employ over 6,000 people in Connecticut and, as precision manufacturers, work with highly specialized technologies vital to the aerospace industry. The trip — Feb.18-20 —for many of the companies will be the first introduction to Airbus and its top suppliers.

Anne S. Evans, the state's district director for the federal Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration, said that Blumenthal's presence on the trade mission will tell the international companies that Connecticut's manufacturers "are first rate companies there to do business."

The companies are confident that they will "present to these French companies that we can compete globally and are best in class with the precision manufacturing solutions that we offer," said Chris DiPentima, president of Pegasus Manufacturing.

His company, based in Middletown, employs about 125 and has more than 70 worldwide customers.

"The trade mission is a powerful method for finding growth opportunities that individual companies would be unlikely to get on their own without years of expensively mining leads," he said.